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Chemical industry - Industrial safety equipment
The right suit for every job - every time
Most occupational diseases develop over a long period. The cause of illness often dates back many years. DuPont has long been recognised for its leadership in the field of industrial safety, and has continually set the standards for minimising work-related accidents and health problems. One of the keys to employee safety is the provision of appropriate protective clothing.
Different applications mean different safety requirements, which in turn may demand different types of protective clothing. Today, TYVEK® and TYCHEM® protect thousands of workers in the chemical industry. In this industry, workers may find themselves exposed to a variety of hazardous substances, such as organic solvents, inorganic acids and alkalis.
Organic solvents
Organic solvents are used very extensively to extract and purify other chemicals from natural or synthetic sources. Many of them have toxic and carcinogenic properties and are highly inflammable. Some organic solvents can cause illnesses such as nausea, headache, loss of consciousness, dermatitis or others.
Organic solvents are often mixed for use in specific applications. The mixtures generally consist of aldehyde, ketone, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon, alcohol and ester substance classes.
Examples of typical organic solvents in chemical production
| Substance group | Permeation data acc. to ISO 6529 / EN369 (1) |
| Aromatic hydrocarbons | |
| Benzene | TYCHEM® F > 480 min |
| Toluene | TYCHEM® F > 480 min |
| Xylenese | TYCHEM® F > 480 min |
| Aliphatic hydrocarbons | |
| Hexane | TYCHEM® F > 480 min |
| Aliphatic hydrocarbons | |
| Trichloroethylene | TYCHEM® F > 480 min |
NB. To aid selection of the appropriate protective clothing, you will need a detailed assessment of the nature of hazard and the working environment. Factors such as concentration, temperature, pressure and other environmental influences significantly impact the barrier of protective clothing.
Acids and alkalis.
There are important reagents for many chemical reactions and purification processes. Most of them are highly corrosive when they come into contact with skin and eyes and through inhalation of spray.
| Inorganic acids and alkalis | Permeation data acc. to EN ISO 6529 / EN369 1 (µg/cm² min) |
| Aqueous solution of ammonia 25% (aqua ammonia) | TYCHEM® F > 480 min |
| Hydrofluoric acid, liquid Concentration : 48 % | TYCHEM® C > 480 min |
| Potassium hydroxide liquid 40% |
TYVEK® Classic, If pressure higher than 0,12 bar, then TYCHEM® C |
| Sodium hydroxide liquid, 50% |
TYVEK® > 480 min |
| Orthophosphoric acid 85% | TYCHEM® C > 480 min |
| Nitric acid 65% | TYCHEM® C > 480 min |
| Hydrochloric acid 37% | TYCHEM® C 235 min, Tychem® F > 480 min |
| Sulphuric acid concentrated 96% Hydrogen peroxide 30% |
TYCHEM® C > 480 min TYCHEM® C > 480 min |
NB. To aid selection of the appropriate protective clothing, you will need a detailed assessment of the nature of hazard and the working environment. Factors such as concentration, temperature, pressure and other environmental influences significantly impact the barrier of protective clothing.
For further information or assistance in selecting protective clothing, please feel free to contact us.
Reliable protection throughout use
Durability is a very important factor in the all-round performance of a protective clothing material. Where wearers come into contact with harsh surfaces, some materials (including those with a porous barrier film) may abrade or tear so quickly that barrier protection is either totally or partially destroyed within a relatively short time. CE barrier tests are only carried out on new materials, so you can’t necessarily be sure how a barrier performs once the garment has been worn for some time.
How does the protective barrier of your garment perform when the garment is worn ?
| Our demo test illustrates the behaviour of protective clothing materials in terms of abrasion, after mechanical loading : | |
| TYVEK® - No damage - No impairment of the barrier |
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| Microporous film material – Damage (holes) – Barrier no longer provided |
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What does the CE- marking tell you about the protection performance of a garment ?
CE marking on chemical protective clothing does not in fact indicate how effective the barrier is, nor does it permit a comparison between different brands.
The CE mark indicates only that the chemical protective clothing meets the minimum requirements of European Standards. Certification by a specific protective type reflects the leak tightness of the suit to a particular form of exposure. However, it does not mean that the suit is 100% leak-proof. It simply means that the suit meets the minimum requirements and does not exceed a particular level of leakage. For example, for the Type 5 particle barrier test, the total inward leakage is determined and allowed to be up to 15%, and for different areas of the suit and certain exercises, individual leakages of up to 30% are permitted. Allocation to a particular protection type is therefore not an indication that all protective suits of this type provide the same barrier. Rather, protective suits can have very different barrier properties.
When selecting protective clothing, it is therefore recommended that the specifier analyses the test results obtained in addition to taking into consideration the suit and fabric property classification. Only in this way can conclusions be drawn regarding the actual leak tightness of a suit.
The use of TYVEK® and TYCHEM® protective clothing in explosion-risk zones
DuPont commissioned the Swiss Safety Institute (Basel) to carry out tests to investigate the use of TYVEK® and TYCHEM® protective clothing in explosion risk zones.
This Table shows the situations in which TYVEK® and TYCHEM® clothing can safely be used : i.e when the green checkmark appears for both the zone and the explosion group.
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The DuPont team is available should you require further information on our product range or assistance in selecting the appropriate chemical protective clothing for your specific application.
Following garments could be used for this application* :
TYVEK® Industry, model CCF5, Type 5, 6
TYVEK® Classic, model CHA5, Type 5, 6
TYVEK® Classic Plus, model CHA5, Type 4B, 5, 6.
TYCHEM® C Standard with socks, model CHA6, Type 3B, 4, 5, 6.
TYCHEM® F Standard with socks, model CHA6, Type 3B, 4, 5, 6.
TYCHEM® C2, model CHZ5 , Type 3B, 4, 5, 6
TYCHEM® F2, model CHZ5 , Type 3B, 4, 5, 6
For detailed technical information please contact us.
*Whether a TYCHEM® / TYVEK® protective garment would be suitable for the specific conditions of an application can only be determined by the enduser himself.
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Garment selection questionnaire